There is no greater path to peace than the immediate call for full and intended colonization of space and the planets of our Star System.
We have been witness to 15 years of a "War on Terror", a war which is perpetuating fear, authoritarian destruction of personal freedoms, and draining the collective resources and goodwill of the inhabitants of this planet. We have become burdened by increased spying, mistrust, and collective failure of the social system of government. We have stalled as a people, uninspired but by bread and circus. World markets and currency are failing. World governments are on the brink of collapse. This is a worst case scenario playing out in our time.
But there is a currency that will not fail - the currency of innovation and determination. Even where the masses are subjecting themselves to destruction, there are those who seek to expand the purpose of humanity. It has been this way in all eras, and this era of destruction is no different.
With the successful venture beyond the limits and bounds of this world, the collective understanding of our finite planet are sure to follow. Become a space faring civilization is the only sure method to see beyond the billowing smoke rising from the oilfields and recognize that our purpose is greater than what we are now realizing. Since the dawn of time there has been a natural call to the stars, in poetry, in song, in story. It is this natural instinct, like the spawning salmon, that is the indicator... peace lies in the heavens.
There is no greater path to peace than to resolve to cease acting as agents of war and collectively become a society of explorers. Immediate cessation of all war spending, of all destruction, and of all government authoritarianism, replaced with a cause, a purpose of building a pillar to space. Pour the resources 100 fold into space. Build the ships and rockets and other things necessary to realize a permanent presence beyond this earth. Now is the time to define humanity. Are we a species bent on seeking destruction of ourselves and our planet? Or are we a species destined to evolve our society into the stars?
There is no greater path to peace than a peaceful purpose realized with all your heart.
Expanding our presence into space and colonizing there would be an amazing accomplishment and a worthy goal. That being said, the specter of war would come about as sure as the rising of the Sun.
ReplyDeleteLet's say for the sake of this example that a mission to colonize and terraform Mars was acted on. It would start out as a one-way ticket, of course - with the first settlers setting up an outpost to live the rest of their lives. It would require a regular amount of supply shipments from Earth to be delivered. After a few decades, the outpost has grown in size and technological advancements have allowed it to become more self-sufficient. It begins to grow even further - along with the local economic expansion that takes place due to the overwhelming demand for jobs to be filled. The outpost has now becomes a full fledged colony. More time passes - hundreds of years - and the innovations in technology that were made have allowed people to slowly change the atmosphere over time to where the air is thin, but breathable. This makes Mars an even more viable alternative as a place to live and a great migration of willing travelers seek to live there. After a few more hundred years - people are now living on Mars as if it were just another place to be. All of this is conjecture on my part, but for the sake of the example just go along with it.
After hundreds and hundreds of years of all this going on - you would be having generations born, living and dying on Mars with little to no experience of Earth, our cultures, lifestyles or expectations. When technology rises to the point where the normal limitations to living on and terraforming a planet will have been conquered - the question on the minds of the people on Mars will be this: "Why should we be beholden to any government, policy, oversight or interference from the people of Earth? We don't need them. We don't want them. They don't live here."
So...the martians declare their independence.
That doesn't sit well with the governments and corporations back on Earth. They send emissaries to engage in diplomacy, but they are rebuffed and sent back. They try sending messages, but the people of Mars - knowing Earth is so far away - have decidedly cut us off and are no longer interested in dealing with us.
There is a zero percent chance that the people of Earth would accept this. Earth will have poured thousands of trillions of man-hours into colonizing Mars over half a millennia. They will have built entire industries and economic strongholds based on the expansion of Mars. "Mars thinks they can just ignore us and shut us out? Hell no!"
That's when troops get sent in, and history will repeat itself.